Tuesday, March 21, 2017

Malaprop's announces inaurgural "Rise Up and Read Together" program

Malaprop’s Bookstore has announced the Rise Up and Read Together, a year-long program that invites all
residents of Asheville to read the same book. Rise Up and Read Together is modeled on the “One City One Book”
program, and is designed to build a sense of community and promote
literacy.Like “One City One Book,”
Asheville’s Rise Up and ReadTogether takes the idea of a localized
book discussion club and expands it to cover an entire community.

Malaprop’s
Bookstore/Café has selected the inaugural book, Vol. 1 of the
March trilogy, March: Book One. Malaprop’s will
host a visit by author Andrew Aydin on Sunday March 26, at 3:00 pm. The event
also will announce the launch of the Rise
Up and Read Together program. Tickets to the event are free and available
at malaprops.com. Malaprop’s will sell March: Book One at a 10% discount
throughout the duration of this year’s program.

Asheville
Mayor Esther Mannheimer said: “This program is a way to expand the conversation
that starts when families read together to neighborhoods, schools, faith
institutions, community groups, retirement communities and the city as a whole.
I hope this common ground of sharing will strengthen our community and create
connections where there have been divides.”Emoke B’Racz, Malaprop’s owner and founder, added: “Malaprop’s has been
a resource to the Asheville community since it opened its doors in 1982. Our
mission has always been to create a welcoming environment in which all kinds of
people can come together around words, books, and ideas.
The March
trilogy is the kind of work that will inspire discussion across generations.”

“We are
excited to bring this landmark book to the Asheville community,” said Melanie
McNair, Malaprop’s Director of Marketing and Author Events, “and we are
delighted to welcome Andrew Aydin to Malaprop’s. March is a work that will be enjoyed and appreciated by both kids
and adults. It’s our aim and our hope that reading March: Book One will get families and generations talking together
about the important events and themes presented in the book. As an independent
bookstore, we believe that books can be a powerful constructive force for
bringing people together.”

The March
trilogy is an award-winning, New York
Times #1 best-selling graphic-novel memoir trilogy offering an inside story of the Civil Rights
Movement through the eyes of one of its most iconic figures, civil rights
leader and Congressman John Lewis.The
series is written by Lewis and Andrew Aydin, and illustrated and lettered by
Nate Powell. March is the first comics work to win
the National Book Award, and is a recipient of the Will Eisner Comics Industry
Award for "Best Reality-Based Work," the Robert F. Kennedy Book Award
Special Recognition, and the Coretta Scott King Book Award (Author) Honor. TheWashington
Post heralded the completion of the March trilogy, saying, "There
is perhaps no more important modern book to be stocked in American school
libraries than March. The closest American
peer to Maus has arrived."

Community
groups, faith groups, social justice organizations, and book clubs are
encouraged to participate by reading March: Book One together and
creating discussion groups among their members. YWCA Asheville, Stand Against Racism, BeLoved Asheville, Word on the
Street/La Voz de los Jovene,Building
Bridges, Movement in Faith, Rainbow Community School and Faith for Justice Asheville have already
signed on as official partners. Area schools and libraries are exploring
programming around the book. There is a Facebook group anyone can join who
would like to collaborate and connect with other readers:
www.facebook.com/groups/riseupandreadtogether.

“It is our
hope that we will start something this year that the community will take on and
keep going year after year,” McNair said. “There is a powerful longing among
our customers to connect to others in a real and genuine way - not through the
avatars of social media - and we hope this ongoing initiative will fulfill at
least part of that need..”

The first
“One City One Book” program was “If All of Seattle Read the Same Book,” in
1998, started at Seattle Public Library’s Washington Center for the Book. Since
then, other communities have adopted similar initiatives and The Center for the
Book at the Library of Congress tracks all known programs and the books
they have used. Buncombe County had a “Together We Read” program in 2002 and
2003 that featured a book by a regional author in each of those two years.